Best Albums of 2020

Jokester

Jokester

Jokester

Don
Joined
7 Aug 2003
Posts
44,697
Location
Aberdeenshire
That time of year again.

Albums I've thoroughly enjoyed this year, been a particularly good year for funky stuff.

Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
80s disco vibe going on throughout the album.


Tame Impala - The Slow Rush
Hard to follow up their last album, but this comes close.


Meute - Puls
Came across them on youtube during lockdown and love their vibe.


Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?
I don't think she's done a bad album, this one is cracking! Again like Dua Lipa, got a retro vibe to it.


Roisin Murphy - Roisin Machine
She still produces cracking tracks, there's a couple of older tracks (Simulation is superb) but mostly new stuff that channels a bit of Moloko as well I guess.


Stinker of the Year goes to:-
La Roux - Supervision
Total ****

So what's everyone else been enjoying this year?
 
Paradise Lost - 'Obsidian'

JI1XWTjl.jpg


 
Played to death Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers closely followed by (gasps) error folklore by Taylor Swift.

No idea what has happened to me.
 
The Weeknd - After Hours
The absolute best artist of the past ten years in my eyes. Everything he does is incredible. The fact that he wasn't nominated for a single Grammy this year is outrageous, especially with Blinding Lights being the most streamed track of 2020.


Tame Impala - The Slow Rush
I genuinely think I like this better than Currents. Maybe.


DMA's - The Glow
Small Aussie band who are gaining popularity. They always put out some solid albums.

 
Last edited:
These are my favourite eight as it stands:

3R7dixG.png


Picks:
  • 1. The Slow Readers Club - 91 Days In Isolation (indie). An immersive, cathartic release from a moderately-well-known UK indie rock band. Track two 'Everything I Own' is arguably the standout track I've heard this year. Highly recommended.
  • 2. Tom Morello - Comandante (alternative). An EP from the ex-Rage Against The Machine guitar wizard that sits comfortably within that era of his career. Starts out with his take on Hendrix's Voodoo Child, includes a duet with Slash and a short instrumental tribute to Eddie Van Halen, and ends on a heavy-blues based number. It's largely instrumental and Morello has plenty of opportunity to showcase his abilities.
  • 3. Run The Jewels - RTJ4 (hip hop). Most modern hip-hop leaves me cold, but Run The Jewels are one of the few exceptions. Very slick, hard-hitting effort that is all the better for its brevity, coming in at 11 tracks and under 40mins. Great production values, no filler here.
  • 4. The Pineapple Thief - Versions Of The Truth (prog rock). Another strong release from this longstanding, creative UK prog act. Not as immediately captivating as their 2018 album Dissolution, this is more of a slow burner interspersed with a few excellent tracks. Instrumental chops aplenty in this band.
  • 5. Es - Less of Everything (post punk). Debut album from this UK post-punk band. Very minimalist, nervy recording, with a touch of synth. Kind of a mesh between Savages and Joy Division. Another album where brevity does it credit, at around 25mins.
  • 6. Terje Rypdal - Conspiracy (jazz fusion). A quite beautiful album from Rypdal, meshing his electric guitar work with a haunting, compositional soundscape that brings in layer after layer of textures and depth.
  • 7. Larkin Poe - Self Made Man (blues rock). A duo I rate very highly, two authentic musicians that treat their subject with knowledge and respect.
  • 8. Grimes - Miss Anthropocene (synth pop). A good, early-year release.
I've also enjoyed 'Wargirl - Dancing Gold 'and 'Lex Amor - Government Tropicana' (very Tricky-like) over the past couple of weeks, but need to give both more listens. I've picked up around 400 albums this year, but most have been from legacy artists. I feel that I've added less new music than last year, although that is no reflection on what is being produced.

Archive:
Thin Lizzy - Rock Legends. Six-CD bonanza with the majority being unreleased material and alternative takes from across their storied career. The motherlode for Lizzy fans.
 
Last edited:
Caroline Polachek - Pang (slipping this in on a technicality. I have the CD which was released this year. If I hadn't read more about it, I wouldn't have known it came out digitally last year :o)

Fubsy said:
Played to death Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
Click to expand...

This is my stinker of the year. I loved her first album so had high hopes but I can barely listen to this. :D

edit: other stuff I'm listening to...

Sylvan Esso - Free Love
Hayley Williams - Petals For Armor
Charli XCX - how i'm feeling now (utterly ashamed of this but since I'm completely unknown here, it doesn't matter :p)
 
Last edited:
Sync24 - Acidous
Blue Stahli - Quartz/Copper
Rabbit Junk - Xenospheres (Still amazes me they aren't bigger, one of the best Electronic/Industrial Metal bands around for me)
Biffy Clyro - A Celebration of Endings (real return to form after Ellipsis being quite poor imo)
Poppy - I Disagree (One of my favourite albums of the year, so flipping catchy)
Essenger - After Dark (synth-laden goodness)
Purity Ring - WOMB
Pure Reason Revolution - Eupnea (One of my favourite bands reformed and better than ever)
IAMX - Echo Echo (acoustic versions of some of their best songs)
Destroyer - Have We Met? (Can't put my finger on exactly why I love this but I do)
 
Can't say that anything new stands out for me except The Weeknd's album. I preferred the older Tame Impala stuff, but haven't come across anything new to shout about outside of that.
 
Corey Taylor - CMFT is the only album this year i've bought and really enjoyed. he said it was his break from Slipknot to do whatever musical styles that had caught his attention, but not in the vein of Slipknot; neither heaviness, nor their style of lyrics

definitely a good album. and well worth the price
 
Ryan-3 said:
Can't say that anything new stands out for me except The Weeknd's album. I preferred the older Tame Impala stuff, but haven't come across anything new to shout about outside of that.
Click to expand...
Going to get The Weeknd's album, really liked the stuff he did with Daft Punk.
 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B083LKRMTN/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp

This for me. It's their first album in around 20 years. A real shame of a band, in that they were the last band signed by Tony Wilson and touted to do well, but they just never quite made it.

This album is a lot more grown up feeling than their first, but retains some of the spark and has some really good tracks.
 
Ellipsis had songs that were capable of being good (and we've seen that since with live performances) but it was just really overproduced. In the Name of the Wee Man and Medicine probably the standout tracks.
 
There's two albums that stand out for me this year above all else:

Caribou: Suddenly



Many don't get on with the vocals, but they're absolutely integral to his sound. This album is outstanding from start to finish too. His strongest album since Swim in 2010.

Cut Copy: Freeze Melt



I thought these guys were done after their last album... Which wasn't that good. This album is just amazing though. Much more low key than anything they've ever done in the past, and nailed hard.

... And for an album that I fully expect to join these two on my best of 2020 list, there's the latest Avalanches album, We Will Always Love You, which drops tomorrow. Twenty-five (!!!) tracks, and getting rave reviews pretty much everywhere.


 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom